The field of the disclosure relates generally to panel mounting systems, and more specifically to the mounting of airplane fairing panels to a support frame of an aircraft.
Aerodynamic features on aerospace vehicles may be formed by lightweight composite panels that are attached to the vehicle airframe. For example, aerodynamic pressure fairings are often formed from large, reinforced honeycomb panels that may be connected together and attached by struts to an airframe. Most fairing panels are supported by frames around the edges of the panels, sometimes with single point attachments. The frames are typically attached to the aircraft structure at fixed positions, usually near an edge of the fairing panel, with little or no provisions for flexing of the fairing and structure. In order to cover large spans, thicker and/or higher density panels are generally required in order to react loads across the span, however these thicker panels undesirably increase the weight of the aircraft.